1 in 100 Million: Rare White Lobster Caught Off Maine Coast

Just weeks after a Maine restaurant rescued and returned to the sea a rare "cotton candy" lobster, another Maine lobsterman has made the discovery of a lifetime: a 1-in-100-million white lobster.

Tuesday morning, Mike Billings caught the crustacean off the coast of Stonington, Maine, a town on the southern portion of Deer Isle. He shared photos of the blue-tinged translucent white lobster on his Facebook page. Billings took several photos of his rare find and tossed the too-small crustaceaon, a "snapper" in lobsterspeak, back into the sea.

The rare "ghost lobster" is likely the result of a genetic condition called Leucism, the Portland Press Herald reports. Leucism is a condition that causes a loss of pigmentation in skin, scales, feathers, or other parts of an animal. It is not, however, albinism. That condition is marked by the absence of all melanin or natural pigments, including in the eyes.